Photo: Steve F · CC BY-SA 2.0The Conservatives hold a majority on Dartford Borough Council
Stone is run by Dartford Borough Council and Kent County Council, with Stone parish council for local matters. The Conservatives have a majority on Dartford Borough Council. Reform UK has a majority on Kent County Council. Its MP is Jim Dickson (Labour), member for Dartford.
£2,474
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Stone’s politics has changed since 2021
A majority on Dartford Borough Council
The Conservatives hold a majority on Dartford Borough Council: 27 of its 42 seats as elected. Labour holds 10, Reform UK 3, the Greens 1 and Swanscombe and Greenhithe Residents' Association 1. Who’s in charge ↓
Kent in 2025
Kent County Council, which runs schools, social care and roads, has a Reform UK majority at the May 2025 election: Reform UK won 56 of 82 seats. Kent ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Stone is £2,474 for 2026–27; Dartford Borough Council keeps 8% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 53% in ten years, against England’s 56%. Council money ↓
Written from the data on this page: Democracy Club results since May 2021, the UK Parliament Members API and MHCLG council tax.
Who holds the seats on Stone’s councils
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 22 of Dartford’s 42 or 42 of Kent’s 82 seats to run the council alone.
- Conservative27
- Labour10
- Reform UK3
- Green1
- Swanscombe and Greenhithe Residents' Association1
Latest election: May 2023.
- Reform UK56
- Liberal Democrat12
- Conservative6
- Green6
- Labour2
Latest election: May 2025.
Seats are counted from election results: each ward’s most recent winners until its seats are filled. Councillors who have since changed party or resigned aren’t reflected, and which parties lead the council, and who is leader, comes from the council itself.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), elections since May 2021; seats per ward from its EveryElection.
Two tiers of council, and a parish tier
Stone has two tiers of council: the county runs the big services, the district the local ones.
Local matters: allotments, play areas, halls, footpaths and benches; it is consulted on planning and adds a precept to the council tax bill. A town council is a parish council by another name.
100% of Stone’s residents · Band D precept £141
Bins and recycling, planning, housing, environmental health, leisure, and collecting council tax.
Website ↗Schools, social care, roads and transport, libraries and waste disposal.
Website ↗Who to ask
From GOV.UK’s “Understand how your council works”: in two-tier areas the district or borough runs local services and the county the big ones.
Councils from ONS lookups (wards and councils May 2026, parishes 2025), names and websites from GOV.UK’s local council finder; parish councils from MHCLG’s 2026–27 list of precepting parishes.
From the parish to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Stone, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierStone parish council
- 2Dartford Borough Council1 ward · 3 councillorsPaul CutlerLucy Alison CanhamJohn Burrell
- 3Kent County Council1 division · 1 councillorRyan Andrew Waters
- 4Police and crime commissionerKent Police · elected May 2024Matthew Scott
- 5House of CommonsDartford
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. Tap an MP’s name for their contact page on parliament.uk.
3 councillors for 1 ward
Wards with at least 2% of the town’s residents, or half their own inside it. Each shows who won its most recent elections, newest first, until its seats are filled.
- Paul CutlerConservative · May 2023
- Lucy Alison CanhamConservative · May 2023
- John BurrellConservative · May 2023
Show as a table, with Kent County Council’s 1 division (1 councillor)
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stone Castlemostly in Stone · 6,438 residents3 seats · May 2023 | 3 | Paul CutlerLucy Alison CanhamJohn Burrell | May 2023 |
Kent County Council: county divisions
| Division | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dartford East ED46% in Stone · 6,438 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Ryan Andrew Waters | May 2025 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Dartford Borough Council’s website lists who sits now.
Results from Democracy Club’s candidates database (CC BY 4.0; elections since May 2021) and ward seats from its EveryElection, matched to ONS wards (May 2026) and county divisions (May 2025).
Dartford council election, May 2023
Results in the wards that make up Stone, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
1 ward voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Stone’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗2,446 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Stone is in Dartford constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Stone).
44,488 votes for candidates · majority 1,192
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 44,488 votes from 75,426 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 1,192 of 44,488 votes (2.7%): the 52nd-narrowest of 543 in England.
MPs and results: UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0); constituencies from ONS (2024 boundaries). Percentages are of valid votes; turnout is votes cast over the electorate.
Stone’s Band D council tax is £2,474 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Dartford Borough Council keeps £188.64 of a Band D bill (8%); the rest goes to the Stone parish council, Kent County Council, the Kent police and crime commissioner and the Kent Fire and Rescue Authority.
Band D since 1993
Dartford’s Band D bill has risen 53% in ten years, from £1,553.90 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £540.00 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in Stone, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Kent’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included; the 11 nearest of 13. Bars start at £2,200.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Kent
| Dartford + Kent | Stone’s councils | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £505 | £492 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £262 | £266 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £69 | £49 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £69 | £41 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £153 | £132 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £32 | £49 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £30 | £29 | £26 |
| Public health | £58 | £61 | £78 |
| Running the council | £84 | £74 | £59 |
| Other | £0 | £6 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,262 | £1,200 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Both tiers added: Dartford per its residents plus Kent per the county’s. Schools are left out: academies are paid for directly by government, so council school budgets depend on how many schools have converted. Kent and England: all their councils together. Police, fire and transport authorities aren’t included.
Band D: MHCLG Band D council tax 2026–27 (each authority’s own figure, excluding parish precepts) and Council Tax statistics for town and parish councils 2026–27; since 1993–94, MHCLG’s area averages including parishes.
Having a say in how Stone is run
It takes about five minutes online; the deadline is 12 working days before a poll.
gov.uk ↗Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors and its MP.
WriteToThem ↗GOV.UK sends the report to the council that looks after the road.
gov.uk ↗Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
dartford.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
dartford.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Stone is run
Which council runs Stone?
Stone is run by Dartford Borough Council and Kent County Council. The county council runs schools, social care and roads; the district runs bins, planning and housing.
Does Stone have a town council?
Yes: Stone has its own parish-tier council (Stone parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £141 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Stone?
Jim Dickson (Labour) is the MP for Dartford, which covers Stone.
How many councillors does Stone have?
3 ward councillors represent Stone’s 1 ward, and 1 county councillors its county divisions.
When are the next elections in Stone?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Stone’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Stone?
Band D council tax in Stone is £2,474 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Dartford Borough Council?
The Conservatives have a majority: 27 of 42 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who controls Kent County Council?
Reform UK has a majority: 56 of 82 seats as elected.
Who won the 2023 council election in Stone?
In Stone’s wards on 4 May 2023, Conservative 3 of the 3 seats up. The Conservatives had the largest share of votes, 59.2%.
Sources: ONS ward, county division, parish, constituency lookups (Census 2021 output areas; Open Government Licence v3.0) · GOV.UK local council finder · Democracy Club candidates (CC BY 4.0) and EveryElection · UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0) · MHCLG Band D council tax, parish precepts and Revenue Account budgets 2026–27 (OGL v3.0) · ONS mid-2025 population estimates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.